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The Dunkley Pramotor allowed mother’s and nannies to effortlessly take baby on a trip around town without getting warn out

Built by British motor firm, Dunkley, in Birmingham, the Dunkley Pramotor was the company’s fourth attempt at a useful automobile to meet unmet needs.

Launched in 1923, the one-wheeled power pack was designed to be a practical mother’s helper, but in reality the bizarre machine earned Dunkley immortality.

The mother, or more often the nanny, would stand astride the single wheel of the scooter having attached it to the back of the pram.

The early machines were kick started, meaning nanny had to jump on with zeal and hope for the best.

They were originally designed with one horsepower, horizontal, single-cylinder two-strokes.

Initially, there was only one gear and once kick started, the noisy machine’s hectic progress was controlled with twin handlebars bolted to the back of the pram, with a hand-controlled clutch.

From the ‘inventor’s notebook’ it appears they intended the device to enable mothers to seem as though they could effortlessly glide behind the pram

Throwing caution to the wind, Dunkley introduced in 1924 the two-speed series.

Had there been such considerations as health and safety at the time, perhaps speeding along the road, baby-first in a non-crumple proof, open top vehicle, without any kind of restraint, may not have been permitted.

But thanks to the early freedoms to innovate potentially dangerous contraptions at will, people paid anything between 40 to 135 guineas for the Dunkley Model 20 Pramotor and the Saloon Pramotor with 26 x 2 in Palmer Cord motor tyres, respectively.

One of Dunkley’s earlier models was a ‘Patent Self-charging Gas Motor Car’, pictured, which took its supply of gas from any ordinary gas pipe or street lamp post, as shown to the right

For sporting nannies there was the option of this space-age looking 21 horsepower engine – a 750 cc two-stroke single – which at 75 guineas promised performance far beyond the roadholding capabilities of the average perambulator

So much has been written about James Dean, and his influence looms so large over movies and over popular cultural in general, that it’s always jarring to be reminded that at the time of his death, at the preposterously young age of 24, he had starred in only three films — one of which hadn’t even been released when he died in a car crash on September 30, 1955.

James Dean, New York City, 1955.

And yet, as iconic an actor and star as Dean has become, much of the public’s view of the brooding young man from Indiana was, in fact, formed not by his utterly singular onscreen presence in Giant, East of Eden or even Rebel Without a Cause, but by a series of remarkable pictures made in early ’55 by the great photographer Dennis Stock.

James Dean in his apartment on West 68th Street, New York City, 1955.

In his wonderful 2005 book James Dean: Fifty Years Ago, Stock writes of trying to get the rapidly rising actor, whom he barely knew, to agree to let the photographer chronicle Dean’s return to both New York and Indiana from his new home in Los Angeles.

James Dean in his apartment on West 68th Street, New York City, 1955.

“The story, as I explained it [to Jimmy],” Stock wrote, “was to reveal the environments that affected and shaped the unique character of James Byron Dean. We felt a trip to his hometown, Fairmount, Indiana, and to New York, the place of his professional beginnings, would best reveal those influences…. I would solicit an assignment guarantee to cover expenses. The obvious magazine to approach was LIFE…. It took only a week for LIFE to approve the assignment.”

James Dean, New York City, 1955.

The photographs that Stock produced during his time with Dean captured an introspective, intensely self-analyzing (and occasionally self-absorbed) artist — albeit one who could, at times, also be self-deprecating almost to the point of parody.

James Dean attending dance classes given by Katherine Dunham, New York City, 1955.

LIFE, meanwhile, ran a number of the pictures in its March 7, 1955, issue, under the headline, “Moody New Star.” East of Eden was about to open. Rebel had already made Dean a household name. Less than six months later, the phenomenally talented, category-defying actor would be dead — and would pass into legend.

James Dean with the great Geraldine Page in her dressing room, New York City, 1955.

Here, LIFE.com remembers the too-short life and brilliant, violently truncated career of a true Hollywood original, as seen through the lens of a brilliant photographer, and asks: What would it have felt like?

James Dean with a friend at Jerry’s Bar, in front of the Ziegfeld Theater on 54th Street, New York City, 1955.

What would it have felt like to receive one’s weekly issue of LIFE magazine in the mail in, say, a small town in New Mexico, or New Hampshire — or in Boston or Chicago or Miami, for that matter — what would it have felt like to open it up, and encounter in its pages that startling shot of a haunted-looking Dean, cigarette in his mouth, stalking through Times Square in the rain? There’s a kind of desolate romance in that picture — a bracing, bleak solitude that evokes the story of every young, driven, sensitive, creative person who has ever moved to a city to pursue a dream.

James Dean poses in a casket in a funeral parlor in Fairmount, Indiana, in 1955, seven months before he died.

What did it feel like to see that picture, for the very first time, long before the man in the raincoat with the inscrutable, lopsided grin had become something far larger than a mere movie star?

James Dean in the Fairmount, Indiana, cemetery in 1955, where he found the grave of one of his ancestors with the same same name of the character, Cal, he played in East of Eden.

It’s difficult — in fact, it’s close to impossible — to address any photographs of note that have been around for decades and see them, really see them, as if looking at them for the first time. But if we’re able to suspend for even a brief moment all we’ve come to know of James Dean, or all we think we know of James Dean, then these pictures offer more than just a diversion, or a reminder of what was lost when Dean was killed in that car wreck six decades ago. They offer us a chance to experience the jolt that must have raced through countless readers in the late winter of 1955, as they gazed at Stock’s portraits of this strange, beautiful, thrilling young star, all the while knowing, knowing, that he would be with them, starring in movies, for years and years to come.

James Dean, with his cousin Markie (on the right), who lived on a nearby farm in Fairmount, Indiana 1955.

The new big happy Facebook family is certainly on the ball with iPhone 5, delivering and update not only for its own app, but also one for new subsidiary Instagram designed to work on the new iPhone and iOS 6. The update now ensures that you’ll be able to check out your photos using the iPhone 5′s full 4-inches of glory.

Use of the larger screen doesn’t bring any major interface changes to the table: you’ll just see more of your feed at once. Would’ve been nice to see some additional use of the extra space, but at least the app, which is all about a pleasant viewing experience, isn’t letterboxed anymore. You’ll also get a new onboarding process for new users, useful if you’re just picking it up for the first time, as well as better password recovery options. It’s available now as a free update from the App Store.

BlackBerry 10 is still a ways away, but RIM VP of Business Development Martyn Mallick has revealed that the operating system’s App World storefront will sport plenty of new content very shortly. Despite the potentially limiting name, RIM’s App World will soon play home to music, movies, and television shows for the company’s 80 million users to browse and buy.

Naturally, details are still a little light at this point. Mallick noted that consumers would be able to both rent and purchase video content, and that there’s no streaming to be found here — all of the media is moved directly onto the device. What’s more, users will be able to view trending songs or videos to help make that all-important purchasing decision just a little bit easier. All that said, Mallick made no mention of any media partnerships, so exactly what kind of content we’ll find in the App World is still up in the air.

Developers toting around their Dev Alpha devices (including the fancy new Dev Alpha B) will see the new-and-improved App World “immediately,” though RIM was quick to note that the ability to actually, y’know, buy things, doesn’t work just yet.

The RIM employees on-stage let out a joyous yelp at the prospect of “one stop shopping,” and with good reason. Rival smartphone players Apple and Google have invested heavily in building up their respective media ecosystems, and RIM clearly doesn’t want to be left behind this time. Of course, this could all be for naught if RIM doesn’t wrangle up some strong content partners so we’ll just have to see what the folks in Waterloo and Hollywood come up with.

Hunger Games’ Jena Malone couldn’t keep her hands off her new man at the Emmys.Instagram

There’s no hiding new romances during awards season!

Life & Style can exclusively reveal that actress Jena Malone, who is set to star as Johanna Mason in the next Hunger Games installment, Catching Fire, is dating artist Galen Pehrson.

“I was sitting behind them during the Emmys, and Jena was all over her Galen,” a guest at the lavish awards show tells Life & Style.

“She was kissing him throughout the show,” the guest adds. “They were holding hands and she put her head on his shoulder a few times. She kept smiling and touching his face — she was so into him.”

And the two seem to be mixing business with pleasure. In May, Jena, 27, lent her voice to one of Galen’s animated short projects, El Gato. Galen has since tweeted multiple pictures of her on his account.